We had a wonderful week filled with a spooky play, Word of the Month, and the all school run. The students all thoroughly enjoyed going to see The Legend of Sleepy Hallow and were very surprised to see the actors acting both in and off of the stage. We even got to learn a little more about how the production worked like how the actors do things like eat while still acting and how the props, lighting, and music were used to cause a normal vs. creepy effect for the story. Overall it was a wonderful week filled with lots of learning!

If your child is in the silver knights group we read Roberto Clamente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates and practiced cause and effect. We also worked on changing base words by adding the prefixes mis-, pre-, un-, and re- to them. In writing we continued writing narratives by creating scary stories that we will be sharing with one another at the end of the week. We will be having our spelling test the end of the week as well (Wednesday).

In math we have been focusing on adding and subtracting numbers by 10s and 100s. I’ve noticed the kiddos making a lot of mistakes when the number in the tens or hundreds is a 0 or 9. For example 497 + 10 or 996 +10 or 603 -10 or 1003-100. We have also been working on ordering numbers from least to greatest and identifying numbers as greater than and less than another which have been far easier skills for them. Try practicing these skills at home with them using a white board and marker. They really love showing you what they can do and if they seem to struggle, help them out. The more ways they have it explained, the better chance they’ll have of figuring it out 🙂 If you ever need any supplies I would be happy to send some home with your child!

In social studies we have been working on map skills. We reviewed the cardinal directions and how to read a map (identifying and reading the title, map key, etc.). We practiced these skills by learning more about North America. We figured out that North America is made up of three countries and we learned that the U.S. isn’t even all connected. We also identifying the states that border Wisconsin by the North, East, South, and West. Next week we will be working on intermediate directions and placing the continents on a map based on directional clues.

In religion, we focused on the 7 Sacraments and why we celebrate them. Since they will be receiving Eucharist later this year we focused a little more on first communion by learning about the Last Supper. We learned that the Holy Eucharist is the true body and blood of Christ and remains so even after the Mass which is why it is held in the Tabernacle. We also talked about the importance of going to church every week even when we think we are too busy and being active listeners, speakers, and singers when participating in Mass.

Some things to remember…

-We have a very short week this week – only Monday and Wednesday

-Practice x2,4,5,and 10 facts at home

-Your child should be logging their math/reading minutes each week on their calendars connected to their assignment notebooks. Encourage them to go above and beyond what their goal is. There will be a prize for those who reach their goals at the end of the month.